ABSTRACT
This chapter explains a philosophy of work that emphasizes commitment to any task was useful to black people living in a racist society that for so many years made only certain jobs available to us. Just as many Buddhist traditions teach that any task becomes sacred when we do it mind fully and with care, southern black work traditions taught us the importance of working with integrity irrespective of the task. Yet these attitudes towards work did not blind anyone to the reality that racism made it difficult to work for white people. The majority of black women in the United States know in girlhood that we will be workers. Despite sexist and racist stereotypes about black women living off welfare, most black women who receive welfare have been in the workforce. The black women around us who worked as maids, who stripped tobacco when it was the season, were given dignity and respect.
